I question, whether the 100 mph Class 360 trains, running with Luton Airport Parkway as the first stop, can do the trip in the 24-26 minutes to get to the terminal in under half an hour, even with Luton Airport’s DART shuttle train working!

East Midlands Railway will have its entire bi-mode fleet in traffic by December 2022, according to Baroness Vere, the Government’s transport spokesman in the House of Lords.

This statement means that whoever manufactures the trains has just over three years from today to design, build and test the trains.

This paragraph from the article talks about how Bombardier and Hitachi would design the trains.

It’s known that Bombardier and Hitachi are interested in the contract, but both will be supplying new designs, with the former offering a bi-mode Aventra while the latter will offer an AT300 (the Intercity Express Programme platform) but with shorter vehicles.

What do we know about these two trains?

Bombardier Bi-Mode Aventra

In the July 2018 Edition of Modern Railways, there is an article entitled Bi-Mode Aventra Details Revealed.

As is typical with Bombardier interviews, they give their objectives, rather than how they aim to achieve them.

Class 802 trains are successfully in service on the Great Western Railway.

Class 385, 395, 800 and 801 are all members of the A-train family and are closely related to the Class 802 train.

The A-Train is a modular family.and different numbers of cars and car length, shouldn’t be a problem.

Hull Trains ordered their fleet of five Class 802 trains in November 2016 and they will enter service around December 2019 or early in 2020.

First Group ordered five AT-300 trains in March 2019 and they will enter service in Autumn 2021.

If the order has been placed in the last few months, there is every chance that Hitachi could deliver a fleet of new bi-mode trains for service in December 2022.

Stadler Flirt

These aren’t mentioned in the Rail Magazine article, but they were mentioned as a possibility for the order in an article by Roger Ford, which was entitled East Midlands IC125 Dilemma, in the June 2019 Edition of Modern Railways.

This is an extract from Roger’s article.

In theory, Stadler should be in pole position. Itis also supplying Abellio’s Greater Anglia franchise, where Flirt bi-modes are running on test.

As they haven’t had any serious problems yet, and they are Swiss, everyone thinks they are amazingly efficient and wonderful. Whjich may turn out to be the case.

In the end, Roger rates their chances as slim.

But Stadler certainly has the technical capability to produce a 125 mph bi-mode train.

Electric Trains To Corby

When the electrified St. Pancras and Corby service opens in December 2020, a round trip will take three hours.

This means that as few as three trains would be needed to provide the service.

The specification would be.

Electric traction

Twelve cars and 240 metres long.

125 mph capability.

Three trains and a spare would probably be needed by December 2020, with a further three trains by December 2021.

Abellio would also probably like the trains to be very similar for drivers and staff.

Currently, it appears that the electric services to Corby, will be run initially by cascaded Class 360 trains.

But with a bit of juggling of production, Bombardier, Hitachi and Stadler might be able to manufacture, the four trains needed to start the service in December 2020.

Abellio also have Class 360 and Class 379 trains working on Greater Anglia, that are likely to be replaced before December 2020.

So they have a sensible back-stop.

How Many Trains Will Abellio Need?

The current service is two trains per hour to both Nottingham and Sheffield.

These are fastest times.

London and Nottingham is one hour forty minutes

London and Sheffield is two hours

Even if there is a bit of a speed increase, it looks like at least eight trains will be needed for both services.

As to train length, I doubt five cars will be enough on all trains.

Some services are currently run by six and eight-car HSTs.

Have Abellio promised more seats?

Abellio will be extending some Sheffield services to Rotherham, Barnsley and Leeds.

It has already been stated that the Corby trains will be 240 metres long

So will we see a uniform fleet of longer trains?

There are some short platforms, so I suspect Abellio will buy a mixture of full-length 240 metre-long trains and half-length 120 metre-long trains, as several train companies have done.

I feel we could see something like eight full length trains and perhaps twelve half-length trains.

I have calculated that seven full-length trains are needed for Corby.

Adding this up gives the following.

Eight full-length bi-mode trains of ten-cars.

Seven full-length electric trains of ten-cars.

Twelve half-length bi-mode trains of five-cars

This gives a total of 27 trains of a total of 210 cars, of which 140 are bi-mode and 70 are electric.

All of this is based on running the current service with new trains.

abellio Greater Anglia have not not just done this in East Anglia, but have purchsed extra trains to add new services and increase frequencies.

So I would feel, that these trains are a minimum order, if Abellio are not doing any expansion.

Daily Telegraph Report – 19th July 2019

A report in the Daily Telegraph on the 19th July 2019, which is entitled Blow For Bombardier’s Derby Plant As £600m Train Contract Goes To Hitachi, says the order has gone to Hitachi.

Value is quoted at £600million.

A formal announcement is expected next week.

Has next week already passed without an announcement from Abellio?

I do find it strange, that there has been no reference to the Telegraph report in local sources around Derby.

This article on Railway Gazette is entitled Trains Ordered For 2021 Launch Of ‘High-Quality, Low Fare’ London – Edinburgh Service.

Assuming that Abellio run the Corby services with refurbished Class 360 trains, then 140 carriages will cost £560 million.

But this would mean the following.

Abellio would be running two separate fleets on the Midland Main Line.

The Corby services would run below the operating speed of the route.

Expansion would mean the purchase of more trains.

This is very different to their philosophy in Abellio Greater Anglia.

Class 745 and Class 755 trains are very similar to drivers and other staff.

Both trains can operate at 100 mph on the Great Eastern Main Line.

Abellio Greater Anglia have significantly increased the size of their train fleet.

I believe that Bombardier, Hitachi and Stadler can all met this schedule.

Deliver four 125 mph electric trains by a date early enough for a December 2020 start for Corby services.

Deliver another three 125 mph electric trains by December 2021 for two trains per hour to Corby.

Deliver the fleet of 125 mph bi-mode electric trains by December 2022 for Derby,Nottingham, Sheffield and beyond.

At four million pounds for a car for a Hitachi train, this works out at £840 million.

So could it be, that Hitachi have thrown in a good discount to make sure of the order.

It will be very interesting, when Abellio announce their order.

Interim Trains

Baroness Vere also discussed the other trains on the Midland Main Line.

This was the final two paragraph from the article.

As it stands, the 12 High Speed Trains cannot operate in passenger traffic beyond December 31 2019 this year, as they will not meet new accessibility regulations.

When announcing the Abellio contract win in April, Government confirmed that four Class 180s would transfer from Hull Trains to EMR. There was also the possibility that the LNER HSTs could also transfer to the MML, although these do not meet the disability requirements either.

East Midlands Railway will have its entire bi-mode fleet in traffic by December 2022.

Is very welcome, as the HSTs will retire on the 31st December 2019 and there will be less than three years of a reduced fleet.

These points should also be noted.

In December 2020, when the electrification goes live and new electric trains start running between London and Corby, there will be a few more Class 222 trains available.

The Corby electric trains, will also add capacity between London and Kettering.

I don’t think it unlikely, that some other trains are rustled up to fill the gaps using perhaps Mark 4 coaches and Class 43 locomotives.

I hope for Abellio’s and their passengers sake, that what Baroness Vere said, comes true!

Could Abellio Go For A Safety-First Solution?

Consider.

Abellio Greater Anglia’s new Class 745, Class 755 and Class 720 trains are all running, if not years, but a few months late.

There has been nothing serious and Greater Anglia only has one fleet that is not PRM-compliant; the London and Norwich expresses.

Providing all goes reasonably well with the introduction of the new Class 745 trains, Greater Anglia’s fleet will be fully PRM-compliant, by the end of the year.

But if they had opted for off-the-shelf Hitachi Class 801 trains for London and Norwich, there might have been less worry. On the other hand, Hitachi way of making trains, by shipping the bodies from Japan probably doesn’t lead itself to high productio rates.

But for Midland Main Line services, Abellio East Midlands Railway aren’t looking at a large fleet of trains.

I estimate they could need.

Eight full-length bi-mode trains of ten-cars.

Seven full-length electric trains of ten-cars.

Twelve half-length bi-mode trains of five-cars

Now that Hitachi’s big orders are coming to an end, Abellio can probably be sure, they will get the main line trains on time and with the minimum of fuss.

Going the safety-first route of buying a fleet of Hitachi trains could deliver the trains that are needed urgently.

Four 125 mph electric trains by a date early enough for a December 2020 start for Corby services.

Another three 125 mph electric trains by December 2021 for two trains per hour to Corby.

A fleet of 125 mph bi-mode electric trains by December 2022 for Derby,Nottingham, Sheffield and beyond.

It might be a bit tight for the Corby electrics, but other trains that could work the route in the interim are available.

Abellio could do a lot worse than give Hitahi the order, if they could deliver early!

Conclusion

If any of the three train manufacturers can supply new trains for the St. Pancras and Corby service to the tight timetable, Abellio would surely be very pleased, as they would only have one train type to introduce on the route.

But I do think, that there is a possibility, that a good discount has won it for Hitachi!

I wouldn’t be surprised, if East Midlands Railway brought in Class 379 or Class 360 trains as a stop-gap and replaced them with electric versions of the bi-modes in 2022.

The best solution would be to obtain three twelve-car all-electric versions of the bi-modes by December 2020, to run the initial service.

Hitachi has a 125 mph electric Class 801 train and a 125 mph bi-mode Class 802 train.Stadler has a 125 mph electric version of Greater Anglia’s Class 745 train and I suspect a compatible 125 mph bi-mode train.Bombardier are working on a 125 mph bi-mode Aventra and have been quoted as saying Aventras can be stretched to 125 mph.

It will be interesting to see what trains East Midlands Railway chooses.

By showing, a Class 360 train in their new livery, are they attempting to do one or all of the following.

Get better terms for the nine interim trains they may need.

Get better terms and earlier delivery for enough new twelve-car electric trains to run a 125 mph service between London and Corby.

Trying to get better terms with the leasing companies to take back Class 379 and Class 360 trains, currently at Greater Anglia.

Greater Anglia’s plans currently give the order of the new Stadler fleet introduction as.

Four-car Class 755/4 trains

Twelve-car Class 745/0 trains for London and Norwich services

Three-car Class 755/3 trains

Twelve-car Class 745/1 trains for London and Stansted services

All trains are to be introduced by the end of 2020.

The Bombardier Class 720 trains are also planned to be introduced by the same date, starting this Autumn.

Could this mean that it is likely that nine Class 379 or Class 360 trains could be available before the end of 2019?

If Class 379 or Class 360 trains are used to Corby, it would allow a very relaxed train introduction.

There could be at least a year, to turn the trains into perfect trains for a high-capacity London and Corby service.

I think using Class 387 and Class 350 trains wouldn’t be so simple.

As the Class 745/1 trains for London and Stansted could be the last to be delivered, which might delay the release of the Class 379 trains, could this explain the rumours for using the Class 360 trains, between London and Corby.

There is also an interesting possibility.

Suppose, Abellio decided to order 125 mph trains from Stadler identical to the Class 745/0 trains between London and Norwich on the route between London and Corby.

Stadler probably knows how to upgrade the trains to 125 mph, as there are electric Flirts in Norway with this performance.

Greater Anglia have invested heavily in driver simulators and training aids for their Stadler trains.

By the end of 2019, they will be running Class 745/0 trains between London and Norwich.

With different colours and a few route-specific details, the London and Norwich Class 745/0 trains, would surely be more than acceptable for London and Corby.

Stadler would surely be able to build the extra trains before the Stansted trains. This would mean that the unwanted Class 379 trains would have to soldier on to Stansted for a few more months.

125 mph Class 745 trains would be a magnificent upgrade to the London and Corby service.

Corby – London Service Doubled To Two Trains Per Hour All Day

This would mean the need would be eighteen four-car trains. or six twelve-car trains.

There are enough Class 379 and Class 360 trains, but obtaining the originally-planned Class 387 trains could be problematic.

Building the three extra new trains would not be a problem.

Kettering, Luton And Luton Airport Parkway Services Provided With 2 Trains Per Hour for Most Of The Day

Note.

Luton station is on the latest list of stations to be made step-free by 2024.

Luton Airport has been agitating for more fast trains to and from London and now gets a half-hourly express.

Luton Airport Parkway station will have the Luton DART connection to the Airport in 2021.

Class 379 trains are designed for airport services.

It appears to be a better service for passengers.

Enhanced Sunday Service Throughout The Route With Regular Direct Sunday Services Between London And Corby

No passenger complaints here.

Refurbished Modern Express Trains From December 2020

Features include.

Increased capacity

More reliable service

Improved comfort

Passenger information system

Free on-board Wi-Fi

At-seat power sockets

USB points

Air conditioning

Tables at all seats

Increased luggage space

On-board cycle storage

What more could passengers want?

Many of these features are already installed in the Class 379 trains and would be no problem.

When I rode the BEMU Trial train between Maningtree and Harwich, the information on the Class 379 train was word perfect.

These are the specifications of the two lengths of new Class 720 trains.

Class 720 Train – Five Car

89 x 5-car trains

Length 122 metres

Capacity – 544 seats and 145 standing.

Class 720 Train – Ten Car

22 x 10-car trains

Length 243 metres

Capacity – 1145 seats and 290 standing.

All trains will have the following.

100 mph operating speed.

Acceleration of 1 metre per second²

Regenerative Braking (Using batteries?)

No First Class section.

Also, these trains are modern trains will all the features passengers, staff and train operators need and desire.

How Do Old And New Trains Compare?

Ten-Car Class 720 Trains

Note that these trains are just over 240 metres long, which is conveniently the length of three Class 321 or Class 360 trains.

When the order for the Class 720 trains was announced, this was said to have been a design criteria.

So will the twenty-one Class 360 trains, which regularly run as twelve-car trains be replaced by seven Class 720 trains?

There will be 1145 seats in the new trains, as opposed to 840 in the old.

There will be a Universal Access Toilet and three other toilets in the new trains, as opposed to a Universal Access Toilet in each train.

The new trains won’t have any First Class.

The new trains will be walk-through, with no intermediate cabs.

Operating speed and acceleration appears to be almost the same.

The new trains will have a lot more of the things passengers need.

It appears, that everybody could be a winner.

Passengers have 36 % more seats and better facilities.

On-board staff can handle the whole train without needing to get off to reach the other trains.

Network Rail won’t need to do much work to prepare for the new trains, as they fit the current platforms.

Maintenance of one train instead of three must be easier and less costly.

Most of these arguments also apply to replacing a three-train formation of Class 321 trains, which would give a capacity increase of 24 % more seats.

But there is one big difference.

The acceleration of Class 720 trains is nearly twice that of a Class 321 train, so there could be time savings on routes like Southend and ones with a higher number of stopss.

Destinations which the new ten-car trains from Liverpool Street station could serve include, with current frequencies in train per hour (tph)

Bishop’s Stortford

Cambridge – One tph

Cambridge North – One tph

Clacton – One tph

Colchester

Ipswich – One tph

Norwich

Southend – Three tph

With the current services and the timetable improvements, the new trains would bring could mean the following trains would be needed for

Cambridge – 2 trains for 1 tph

Cambridge North – 3 trains for 1 tph

Clacton – 3 trains for 1 tph

Ipswich – 2 trains for 1 tph

Southend – 8 trains for 4 tph

This is a total of eighteen trains, which would mean ideas like extending some of the Ipswich services to Norwich are possible.

One of the beauties of modern train design, is that lengthening and shortening trains is a relatively easy process, that was invented by Lego and refined by Microsoft with Plug-and-Play!

Five-Car Class 720 Trains Replacing The Current Eight-Car Services

Some destinations like Braintree, Colchester Town, Harwich, Kings Lynn and Walton-on-the-Naze can’t accommodate the current twelve car trains, so they can’t be served by new ten-car Class 720 trains.

So how does a five-car Class 720 train compare with two Class 321 or 360 trains working as an eight-car train.

There will be 544 seats and 146 standees in a five-car Class 720 train.

There will be 560 seats in an eight-car formation of Class 360 trains.

There will be 618 seats in an eight-car formation of Class 321 trains.

There will be about 440 seats in an eight-car formation of Class 317 trains

The new trains are 122 metres long, whereas the current eight-car trains are 160 metres long.

All trains have a 100 mph operating speed.

The Class 720 and 360 trains have an acceleration of around 1 metre per second², whereas the acceleration of a Class 321 train is only 0.55 metre per second².

Given that the Class 720 is a modern train, designed with passengers, staff and operators in mind, I can’t see any problems with replacing the current eight-car trains with a five-car Class 720 train.

I also suspect that if required, an extra car could be added to make six-car trains with a length of 146 metres, that would be shorter than an eight-car Class 321 train.

Five-Car Class 720 Trains Replacing The Current Four-Car Services

There is only one electric service on Greater Anglia, that needs to be run using a four-car train and that is the service between Wickford to Southminster stations on the Crouch Valley Line.

Under Infrastructure in the |Wikipedia entry for the Crouch Valley Line, this is said.

Only Wickford and South Woodham Ferrers have platforms long enough to accommodate 12-coach trains, while each of the other stations on the line can accommodate eight coaches, though services on the line are typically only formed of four carriages due to the short terminus platforms at Wickford being able to only accommodate one four car unit.

So it would appear that the platform at Wickford station needs to be lengthened!

Or does it?

I’ve read that Greater Anglia plan to run four tph between Liverpool Street and Southend Victoria stations, so trains will pass through Wickford station in both directions every fifteen minutes.

Helpfully, both services seem curently to be in the station at the same time.

So if this happens after the fourth train is added to the schedule, there will be a fifteen minute window, where there is no train movements at Wickford station.

So instead of using the current platform, a five-car Class 720 train could stop in one of the main platforms to discharge and pick-up passengers.

Hopefully, the better acceleration of the Class 720 trains could be able to run along the branch in well under thirty minutes to allow a genuine two tph service, as opposed to the current difficult timetable of a train every forty minutes.

Greater Anglia does run other four-car trains at times, but surely running a five-car train wouldn’t really matter and it may attract more passengers.

But,I’m not sure about railcards, the affect of capping or the price if you buy the ticket on line.

Freedom Passes To Heathrow

As I’d used my Freedom Pass, the two journeys cost me a big fat nothing!

It won’t be long before the many Freedom Pass holders, will realise, that Heathrow will be in their free travel area by a comfortable train and they will possibly use it more often, than the Piccadilly Line.

TfL Rail Service Frequency

Currently, the frequency between Paddington and Heathrow is two trains per hour (tph).

Provisional service details are shown under Services in the Wikipedia entry for Crossrail, when the line opens fully in December 2019.

Four tph between Abbey Wood and Heathrow Terminal 4 stations

Two tph between Abbey Wood and Heathrow Terminal 5 stations

All services will call at the following stations.

All stations between Abbey Wood and Paddington stations.

Ealing Broadway station

Heathrow Terminal 2 & 3 station.

Plans for stopping at Acton Main Line, West Ealing, Hanwell, Southall and Hayes & Harlington stations are yet to be decided.

I suspect that TfL would like all Heathrow trains to stop at all intermediate stations, just as services do between Liverpool Street and Shenfield, in the East of London.

But Great Western Railway may have other ideas!

Speaking for myself, I’d like to see four tph on the TfL Rail route between Paddington and Heathrow, as soon as possible.

The Future Of The Class 360 Trains

When Crossrail sort out the Class 345 trains, the five sets of five-car Class 360 trains will be surplus to requirements.

They will also be joined in the sidings in a couple of years, by twenty-one similar four car trains, that are being replaced with new Class 720 trains, by Greater Anglia.

As they are modern 100 mph trains, they should find a home somewhere!

They could even be exported to Thailand, where a similar fleet operates.

About This Blog

What this blog will eventually be about I do not know.

But it will be about how I’m coping with the loss of my wife and son to cancer in recent years and how I manage with being a coeliac and recovering from a stroke. It will be about travel, sport, engineering, food, art, computers, large projects and London, that are some of the passions that fill my life.

And hopefully, it will get rid of the lonely times, from which I still suffer.